Jimi Hendrix Encyclopedia

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The Jimi Hendrix Experience appear at Radio London’s booth at the International Racing Car show held at the Olympia in London. Their mimed performance is reportedly filmed for Radio London but it never airs. Hendrix later laments about the miming experience in a January 28th interview published in New Musical Express saying, “The one thing I really hate is miming, it’s so phony. So far the only thing I was asked to mime was a Radio London appearance and I felt guilty just standing there holding a guitar. If you want to scream and holler at a record you can do that at home, I’m strictly a live performer.”

Following their gig at The Civic Hall in Essex, The Experience attend the “Valentine’s Day Massacre” at The Speakeasy. While at The Speakeasy, Jimi Hendrix jams with Skip Allen, drummer for The Pretty Things.

A second photo session with Bruce Fleming at his London studio is completed on this day. Where the first session focused primarily on black & white photos, this session focused on color photography. The results of which appeared on the cover for the UK pressing of The Experence’s debut album Are You Experienced.

The Experience visit the St. Quentin Flea Market at the suggestion of Alain Dister, who accompanies the group throughout the afternoon. Photos from the afternoon later appear in Dister’s book, It’s Only Rock And Roll.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience are photographed by Gered Mankowitz at his London studio located at 9 Mason’s Yard. Photos from this session would later appear on a host of book and magazine covers around the world, and were also part of the early 1990s remastered collection of Jimi Hendrix CDs released by MCA Records.

Hendrix plans to play at Garfield High School, but his equipment wasn’t available so he instead gives a short speech and answers a few questions. Afterwards, Jimi receives a ceremonial key to the City of Seattle.

Virgil Gonsalez joined the Experience during this evening’s first show, adding flute to an extended rendition of “Are You Experienced”. During the second show, Herbie Rich sat in with the group on organ during “Like A Rolling Stone,” “Lover Man,” “Hey Joe,” “Fire,” and “Foxey Lady.”

In a lively session with Hendrix on guitar and Buddy Miles on drums, the two musicians run through a number of takes of “Izabella” plus lay the foundations for “Room Full Of Mirrors.” As John McDermott explains in Jimi Hendrix: Sessions, “Shortly after reel two began, technical problems slowed the pair’s progress. Hendrix, in particular, was bothered by the volume and general quality of the recording being supplied to his headphones. [Engineers] Jack Adams and Dave Ragno feverishly attempted to remedy the situation, but when recording resumed, Jimi’s amplifier started to malfunction, causing his guitar sound to drop out intermittently. This again caused a scramble in the control room. To help salvage the session, engineer Tony Bongiovi was sent for, and, thought he was not listed on the tape box, his distinctive voice can be plainly heard from this point forward.” As the session regrouped and recordings continued, a series of takes of “Room Full Of Mirrors” was laid to tape as was a couple of interesting takes of “Shame, Shame, Shame” (a song which eluded to the strained relationship with his step-brother Leon), plus a gritty rendition of “Ezy Ryder.” It was during these sessions that Alan Douglas deepened his involvement with Hendrix. Although his exact role in the sessions of the 7th is unknown, the tape marked simply marked as being for client, Douglas Records. As Stefan Bright and Douglas increased their control and influence over Hendrix in the studio, their exact involvement and reason for being there seemed puzzling. Tom Erdelyi (second engineer for several Record Plant sessions) explained the changes in the studio in McDermott’s Jimi Hendrix: Sessions. “Douglas and Bright just sort of came in and took over. They were running the show. I was surprised, because I was a fan of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and no one seemed to understand what Jimi was trying to accomplish. Jimi was such a perfectionist. It seemed as if he was just taking his time, because no tracks were being completed. We thought that Douglas was being patient. “I don’t know whether they had specific titles or not,” continues Erdelyi. “But Stefan Bridge was supposed to be the producer and Alan Douglas the executive producer. There were times when just Stefan Bright was there, but Jimi just played what he wanted, and those guys made comments from the control room.”

Noel Redding returns to New York expecting to begin rehearsing with Hendrix and Mitchell for the next Jimi Hendrix Experience tour unaware that Billy Cox has replaced him in the band. “Noel wasn’t told until he came back, expecting to rehearse for the tour,” explains Mitch Mitchell. “Basically, no one had the balls to do it.”